Peter Morici is an economist and emeritus business professor at the University of Maryland and a national columnist in the US

With inflation running high for the past 14 months, we can sadly conclude it is entrenched, will be difficult to conquer, and is hardly the province of the US Federal Reserve alone.  

The present morass stems from both...

The former chair of the Competition and Markets Authority has sued four crypto firms including Binance for nearly £10bn over alleged collusion to take a major cryptocurrency off their exchanges.

Lord David Currie, who chaired the CMA from 2014 to 2018, has filed a claim against the crypto giant as well as exchanges Kraken, Bittylicious, and Shapeshift over their delisting of the BSV token.

The...

For some 30 years, Alex Mashinsky barreled into whatever was the hot technology of the time, promising revolutions in long-distance calling, airport rides and, most recently, crypto. He often left a trail of unhappy friends, colleagues and investors.

His latest venture, Celsius Network, pitched itself as both safe and subversive. It was a way for regular people to tap the moneymaking potential of crypto, and to upend traditional banking. Last month, Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection, and its customers worry they might...

SoftBank’s chief executive officer, Masayoshi Son, says he is embarrassed and remorseful after the company reported record losses. A little humility would help leaven SoftBank’s aggressive investment style and probably lift returns over the long run. But the odds are not necessarily in investors’ favor — next time markets bubble up again, Son’s brash style may resurface as well.

The Japanese technology investor on 8 August reported its biggest quarterly loss ever: $23.4bn for the three months ending in June. Investment losses...

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are pushing the Federal Reserve to move swiftly toward issuing a digital dollar, to combat steps from China and others they say could one day threaten the US status as the global reserve currency.

The bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Representatives Maxine Waters and French Hill, has sought for the US to counter global competitors launching digital versions of their currencies. The House Financial Services Committee, which both serve on, might vote on related legislation as soon as next month.

The climate and tax package passed by the Senate on 7 August will unlock some $370bn in funding for clean energy and accelerate a historic shift in how the world is powered. Along with a parallel initiative in Europe, the bill could trigger private investments that reach into the trillions.

The transition to renewable energy already is well under way. Sources of energy like solar panels that seemed like anachronistic tree-hugger technology less than a decade ago have become key parts of base-load electricity generation. Wind...

Hendrik du Toit has witnessed a lot of change during more than 30 years as a fund management chief executive, including the emergence of global behemoths that run trillions of dollars in assets as a result of multiple acquisitions.

Overseeing some £144bn, Ninety One is much nimbler in comparison to some of its larger rivals. But du Toit is more than content with the position his firm occupies as a mid-sized player — a factor he believes makes it just as competitive.

“Great...

Tracey McDermott wants to help solve the climate crisis.

For a time, she was in charge of the Financial Conduct Authority. You might have thought being the UK's top regulator would be as good a place as any to start that mission.

But in her new private-sector home at Standard Chartered, McDermott is convinced she still has a role to play in...

For some 30 years, Alex Mashinsky barreled into whatever was the hot technology of the time, promising revolutions in long-distance calling, airport rides and, most recently, crypto. He often left a trail of unhappy friends, colleagues and investors.

His latest venture, Celsius Network, pitched itself as both safe and subversive. It was a way for regular people to tap the moneymaking potential of crypto, and to upend traditional banking. Last month, Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection, and its customers worry they might...

For years the poster child of European banking, UBS has just turned in an uncharacteristic-ally disappointing set of earnings for the second quarter. But there was one bright spot — its small fixed-income trading business, where revenue surged 19%.

The irony will not have been lost on Andrea Orcel, former head of the group’s investment bank, who sometimes mused about whether UBS’ fixed-income business had been cut back too much in its post-financial crisis restructuring 10 years ago.

At...

Author Michael Lewis is being coy about his next project.

But, he says over a video call from his home in Berkeley, California: “I will lift my skirt a little, but not a lot here.”

He then gets more animated: “I really don’t want to reveal exactly what I’m writing about,” he tells Financial News. “But I found a character through whom I can...

Corporate law has a deeply ingrained culture of long hours in the office. Junior lawyers get the worst of it.

One apocryphal anecdote has circulated through the years: Slaughter and May M&A legend Sir Nigel Boardman once asked a junior who was standing up to reach for their coat at the end of a working day if they were cold. The idea they were going home so early in the evening was absurd.

That...

Corporate law has a deeply ingrained culture of long hours in the office. Junior lawyers get the worst of it.

One apocryphal anecdote has circulated through the years: Slaughter and May M&A legend Sir Nigel Boardman once asked a junior who was standing up to reach for their coat at the end of a working day if they were cold. The idea they were going home so early in the evening was absurd.

That...

PwC has been fined £2.5m by the audit watchdog for its failures following the discovery of a massive fraud in telecom company BT’s Italian unit in 2016.

BT uncovered a fraud in its Italian business in 2016, which forced it to issue adjustments of £513m in its 2017 financial statements.

The Financial Reporting Council found that PwC failed...

Investments managed by HBOS, Fidelity and Jupiter have been branded some of the worst-performing in the UK, with billions of pounds languishing in their so-called dog funds.

According to a twice-yearly list compiled by online investment platform Bestinvest, three products offered by Lloyds Banking Group brands HBOS and Scottish Widows account for 62% of the total £10.7bn sitting in underperforming funds.

The...

Clients of bond giant Pimco pulled out the equivalent of nearly $30bn in the second quarter, a sign of investor flight amid interest-rate hikes.

Parent company German insurer Allianz said 5 August that the outflows were in line with overarching market trends. Pimco is one of the world’s largest fixed-income investors with more than $1tn in assets under management.

Pimco's...

European investment banks suffered a tough second quarter, as results this week revealed sharp cuts in dealmaking fees amid tough trading conditions.

The past three months have been one of the most challenging environments for investors in the last decade. A surge in inflation, Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine, and a continued Covid-19 hangover have shaken some of Europe's leading investment banks.

UBS,...

City firms have struggled to bolster the number of Black professionals in their ranks, despite ambitious pledges after the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

Change has been slow. What little UK data there is available shows there is a dearth of Black employees. At Barclays, 3.5% of its UK workforce are Black, at HSBC, just 2.6% — a figure that shrinks to 1% in the senior ranks.

Cecil...

Baroness Helena Morrissey has been an executive at multiple asset managers and is a noted City diversity campaigner

The long-awaited Financial Services and Markets Bill was finally introduced to parliament just ahead of the summer recess. At more than 330 pages, it is the biggest financial services legislation package in more than two decades.

The...

Junior bankers' pay has spiralled by 30% to $110,000 over the past year as banks have battled to retain analysts amid a burnout crisis.

Now, those on the bottom rung are facing a reality check — bonuses are shrinking.

Investment banks have slashed bonuses for analysts, which are typically paid during the summer, as deal activity has tumbled...

Crypto may be in the doldrums, but established brands across banking, fund management and digital assets see the crash as a chance to expand in the space.

Challenger bank Revolut announced on 3 August that it would significantly widen its crypto offering to its millions of customers across the UK and Europe by adding 22 new tokens to its trading platform.

Marcus...

Underwhelming second-quarter results, as the threat of recession morphs into reality, are causing City firms to weigh up their hiring plans.

While BlackRock has indicated a likely slowdown in recruitment, other City fund managers have pledged to keep up the pace of recruitment, following in the footsteps of London law firms, who told Financial News they're still in hiring mode.

Investment...